Tractor attachment for motor-trucks.



J. s. HARGER.

mama ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29 I917- r z, 1 1 a Patented June 4, 1918.

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' Mot/Wa J. S. HARGER.

TRACTOR ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR TRUCKS.

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To all whomit may comm nt Be it known that I, J onn Samoan Harem, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Nyack, Rocklandcoty, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Imrovements in Tractor Attachments for otor-Trucks, of which the followingis a full, clear and exact description.

This inventionrelates to improvements in tractor attachments formotor-vehicles, the object bein to provide a. framework that ran-be rea'y attached to therear axlehousing of a motor-truck .or a touring car. a

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an inexpensive devicethat" can be at}:

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motor-vehicle can be transformed into a tractor for hauling plows orother farming implements, .my tractor attachment. being arranged tobemoved in or out of position for use without removing it from thevehicle.

A part of my attachment consists of tractorbelts' which are placed uponthe rear wheels of the vehicle and upon the wheels "of the tractor. Toapplyor remove the belts, the vehicle will bejacked up. I furtherprovide detachable supplemental treads for the front wheels which arebroad enough to prevent the same from sinking into soft earth.

ll will now proceed todescribe my invention in detail, the novelfeatures of which I will point out in the appended claims referencebeing had to the accompanying" rawings, forming part hereof, wherein-'-Figure 1 is a Side elevation of a motor truck having my improvementsapplied thereto; g

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; a Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of'therear axle-housing oi the truck and also of my proved attachmentillustrated as eonnected thereto;

hi :-d is a sectional view-thereof, the see tion eing taken on a line Hin Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged-detail view of the swivel oonnection forthe-frame-members of the tractor attachment; and 1 Fig. 6 is a crosssectional view of one. of the front wheels showing the detachable tread.

As herein illustrated, my invention comprises a tractor attachmentconsisting of the frame-members 7 and 8, wh ch, 'at one end thereon-arepivotally connected at 9;, to brackets 10 applied to the rear 11 of thetruck 12. The bracket 10 consists specification of hettere intent.Application filed June 28,1917, heria1 1to.17?,6t8.

' lof the members 13 and 14, which are instance one only beinaxle-housing J moron nrrncnnnnr non. noronsrnucxs.

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clam ed to the housing by bolts 15. Further I attach brackets 19 eachhaving a jaw 20 to receive the rear end of theframe-members [and 8.-

Each frame-member 7 'and8 consists of the members 21 and 22 rotatablyconnected intermediate the ends thereof, as at 23. Ilhe adjacent ends ofthe frame-members 21 and 22 are rounded ed to form journals 24 and aresecured together by bolts 28. To prevent the members 21 and 22 frombeing" ulled out of the blocks; 1 provide the. end 0 each journal with acollar 29.

25 to fit blocks 26 and 27, respectively, which I Each frame-member 21is pivotally con- 'nected to its block 19 on the axle 16 by apin 30, thepivotalconnection being intermed ate the ends of said members 21 toprovide a short arm 31 having an opening 32 to aline with openings 33 inthe jaw of the block-19,

said openings being arranged to receive a locking-pin 34 when thetractor its/in use.

When the tractor is not in use (as indicated by dotted lines Fig. 1),the pin 34 will he removed, as will hereinafter be described.'

In combination with the frame-member's 7 and 8, wheels 17 and 18 andthewheels 35 and 36 of the truck 12, ll employ a flexible traction belt 37having projectlons 38 to grip the ground. The belt 37 may be oi anysuitable material, to which the blocks or projections 38 are secured inany suitable manner. v 1

To maintain the belt upon the wheels, 1 may provide side members 39(chains/tor shown which are connected to the belt 3 by li s 40 which mayalso be short chains, hence the traetionbelt can be maintained upon thewheels, the side chains and links reventing the traotorbelt fromslipping o ,sidewise.

When the tractor attachment is in nee, l prefer (to apply to thefront-wheels d1 of the truck a relatively wide auxiliarytread 42, whichis held in place by clam s as engaging certain otthe spokes at e saidwheels.

- When the tractor is-not i n use, it'will be held up ed the ound, asshown bydotted lines inltig. 1, y anysuitable suspending I means such ashooks 4.4, thepin 1o treads 42.

. a detaileddes -members-13 and 14, the bolts 15 being removed, and thewheels 17- and 18 hanging from the pin 30,. In. this positionthedistance between the center of the axle-housing 11 and center of theaxle 16 w 1ll be less 3 than the distance between said points when thetractor isin use, for a purpose to be described. When the' tractor isnot in use, the traction-belt will be removed-from the a also thesupplemental I framework adapted for securement, at one the device foruse the belt 37 To prepare will. be applied while the tractor-frame 1ssuspended, the truck being jacked up to raise the wheels 01f the;ground. After the 1 5 belthas' been applied, the tractor framework willbe lowered, and the frame-members pushed downwardly to cause theopenings 33in the blocks 19 and openings 32 in the frame-members 21 toaline, after whichthe locking-pins 34 will be applied, thereby making arigid connection. The action of pushing the frame-members 7 and 8downwardly will be to. force the mile 16 outwardly to increase thedistance between the center thereof and'the'center of housing 11,thereby drawing the traction-belt 37 taut.

When thebelt is first placed upon the wheels it will he too slack-foruse, bilt when the axle 16 has been moved out and the pins 34 applied,the belt will be drawn taut enoughto propel the vehicle with its load..When'prepared for use, the belt 37 will act the same as thetraction-belt of a cater illar-tractor, criptionof whic' need not be'ven.- The swivel connection 33 allows either the wheel 17 or. 18 torise from the ground to pass over a stone,or other obstruction, with-vout straining the framework, as'the niembers 21 arearranged to rotateshould either one'of the wheels 17 or'18 rise or fall below .the levelof its companion. When the-traction-helt is applied, the supplementaltreads 4.2wi11 also be applied. The connection be tween, the axle-housin11; and axle :16 of thetractor attachment is a toggle connection to beutilized to draw the traction-belt taut.

The frame-members 7 and. 8 and connected parts can be detached from thebrackets, 10 by withdrawing the pivot-pins 9; or the, entire attachmentcan be removed from the truck by disconnecting the brackeltwn for thispurpose.

. nected by. a swiv "ment tosaid wheels and the wheels of the ,aeani ieI I The detailed construction hereinbefore de- 58 scribed andillustrated in the drawings is butone way to carry out the principles ofmy invention, and it should be understood that the essential featuresthereof can-be embodiedin otherforms without departing from the spiritofmy invention.

What I cla' as my invention is: 1. A tracto attachment consisting of, a-

end thereof, to a motor-vehicle, and wheels carried by the framework atthe opposite end thereof, said framework being connected intermediatethe ends thereof to form a toggle. 3 i 2. A tractor attachmentconsisting of a framework adapted for securement, at one 5 end thereof,to a motor-vehicle, and wheels "carried by the framework at the oppositeend thereof, said framework .consistin of a pluralityofrotatablyconnected mem ers.

3. A tractor attachment consisting of a framework adapted forsecurement, at one end .thereof, to a motor-vehicle, an axle ivotallyconnected t'o-the outer end of each rame-member, and means to lock theframemembers and axle together to form 'a rigid structure when thetractor is in :use. 4. The combination of amotor-vehicle atractorattachment consisting of a plurallty of supplemental wheels carried by aframe consistlng of aplurality of members cone ijoi'nt,.eachframe-member being pivotally attached tothe' vehicle, and

'.-a traction-belt arranged for attachment to the wheels of the vehlcleand the wheels carsaid'frame. combination with a vehicle, a tractorattachment consisting of a plurality of wheels, a pivoted frame tosupport said wheels upon the vehicle, said frame consisting of a.Pllll'itlltY ofimembers connected by a swivel oint intermediate theends thereof to form a toggle connection, a traction device consistingof a belt adapted for attachvehicle, and means to retain the tion-uponthe wheels.

\Signed at New. Yorkv city, Y.,

belt in posi this I JOHN sl nronnrilnenn.

jWitnesses; Y Y

EDWA D A; Jarvis,- Memos Broom I 28th day 'of June, 1917.

